Numeracy Development Case Study Megan Colson

E345- Math Dr. Walcott November 24, 2012

Colson 2 Profile Report About Learner A Learner A is 6 years and 2 months, who goes to Eastside in Edinburgh, Indiana and is in Kindergarten. This will be her second year in school; she went to preschool last year. She likes the movie Tangled and would tell me many stories about vacation to Disney World where she saw princesses. Learner A favorite animal is horses and favorite activity is cheerleading. She informed me that her favorite subject in school was math. Learner A would love to count for me and would ask repeatedly if we could do more math activities. Strengths and Interests Learner As strengths are rote sequencing and recognizing number symbols. Rote sequencing Learner A knew completely she was able to count all the way up to 50 and said she could count more but was a little tired. One activity that she participated in was using a muffin tin and numbers were taped to the bottom and she would have to put the right amount of noodles or paper clips into the correct number. Learner A would love to do this activity and would get every number right every time. Learner As other strength was recognizing number symbols. She participated in a couple activities to see how well she knew this skill. One activity included number flash cards that were in a random order that she would say what each number was. The other activity included the recorder writing random numbers down and asking Learner A what each number was. Learner A would be able to recognize each number all the way up to fifty. After doing the flashcards, she even asked if she could put them in order while counting out loud. Learner As interest in math included muffin tin activity, a number worksheet and writing out numbers. The muffin tin as mentioned above was filled with written numbers, and Learner A was asked to put the right amount of noodles or paper clips in each spot. Learner A really enjoyed this activity and would ask to do it multiple times in one meeting. The other interest in math Learner A had was a

Colson 3 number worksheet. The recorder would pick a random number such as four, the child would be asked to color in four dots, then write out the number four, draw it, tally it, and then find the number in the sequence line. Learners A did this activity two times and really seem interested in trying different numbers and figuring out all the activities that went along with it. The other interest in math Learner A had was writing out numbers. She would inquire multiple times if she could write out her numbers. She would love to write out and count at the same time. Overall, Learner A really loved hand on activities for math instead of just questions that she would have to answer orally. Evidence of Learning Throughout the weeks of working with Learner A there were four skills in math that improved by the last meeting time. These included cardinality, hierarchial inclusion, one-to-one correspondence, and subtilizing. Below explains the activities Learner A participated in at the beginning of the meetings that she improved in by the last meeting Cardinality Cardinality is the value of a set. The activity used for assessing the childs development of cardinality was having Learner A count out blocks given to her. For example, ten blocks were given she was told to estimate, count, and then say the final amount. By the end of our meetings Learner A was able to count out each block and would be able to answer the question of how many blocks total are there. It took time for her to understand when I asked how many there was all together that was the last number she said after counting all the blocks. Learner A was able to develop over time the big idea of cardinality is the value of the set. Hierarchical Inclusion One hierarchical inclusion activity Learner A participated in included the recorder just asking orally what the next number would be in the pattern. For example, 5, 6, then what comes next type of questions. The other hierarchical inclusion activity that Learner A participated in included a fill in the

Colson 4 blank worksheet. She was given on about 5 problems where she was to fill in the blank of the missing pattern. Over time Learner A could quickly pick up the patterns and answer them written down or answered orally. One-to-One Correspondence One-to One Correspondence is when a child is given a set of objects counts each object out individually. Evidence in learning for one-to one correspondence was the easiest to see, and Learner A displayed the evidence from the beginning. Whenever she was given any object and told to count the objects, she would count them out individually. For example, Learner A was given 20 blocks, and was asked how many blocks are there? She would count each block individually from one pile and slide each block over to a new pile after counting it. This was something she always did and it would help her with many of the activities she completed. From the very beginning of our meetings to the end the one-toone correspondence was always one of Learner As biggest strengths and evidence of learning in her math knowledge. Subtilizing Learner A only did a few activities that included subtilizing, but seemed to really understand this concept. One activity she did included reading a book and explaining how many apples, squares, pencils, etc. there were in each picture. For example in the book, they asked how many apples are in the basket, and without using one-to-one correspondence she would automatically say three apples. She was able to subitize numbers up to five in the book. At times she would use 1 to 1 correspondence to find the answers, but other times just by looking at the amounts she would be able to use subtilizing to figure out the answer. At this age level subtilizing for number less than ten, would be the main math concept to have done, and Learner A has accomplished this concept. Next Teaching Step

Colson 5 The next instructional step for Learner A would include hierarchical inclusion backwards, one more and one less, and part/ whole. For hierarchical inclusion the next step to teaching this would have Learner A practice counting backwards, this would include having a graph to look off or having the learner write the problem backwards to figure out the pattern if having trouble. The reason I would work with hierarchical inclusion backwards, is because this would be a concept Learner A had a lot of trouble in. She would be able to recognize these patterns going forward, but once she was given a pattern that was backwards she would not know what to do. One more or one less, the next instructional step would be to just practice with many objects this could be physical objects or on paper to figure out how much the number would change adding one more and how much is gone by taking some away. We tried this activity once, and it seem to confuse Learner A. For example, she was asked what is one less than 8. Learner A response would be 9. After a few tries, we still didnt grasp the concept of one more or one less. Lastly, part/whole is a big math skill, Learner A should accomplish next. This would include to activities such as having three blocks and five blocks separated on a table and seeing if child can say how many are together using addition skills without using 1 to 1 correspondence. Learner A could subitize the three blocks and five blocks, but once asked how many is all together, we would have to recount all the blocks together. This would lead right into the next instructional step of addition and subtraction. Final Reflection Working with my kindergarten student has been a major experience that I will never forget. I have really enjoyed being able to observe my study buddys numeracy development. Throughout our few weeks working together I was amazed by the progress she had made on a few of the worksheets we had worked with. I decided even before our meetings, that I would save all of the activities we did together that she struggled with at the beginning of our meetings and try them again toward the end to see if the results would be the same. As I was hoping, she was improving in so many schools. Her

Colson 6 numeracy development was getting higher and higher each meeting we had. I learned a few new things that I never have thought about before when observing a child about numeracy development that helped me as a teacher realize activities and lessons I need to work on to help my students one day. It is amazing how different each childs numeracy development is and how much they have grown over these few weeks working with them. As a numeracy teacher I learned how hard it was for me to not want to help the child out more. I know from course readings, they always tell you to encourage the child and not to say their answer is wrong. In a video we watched in class, where a boy was asked to write out his numbers such as 100 or 1000. When he was asked to write a 100 and would add an extra zero, I had to bite my tongue because I wanted to help him and let him know that was 1000. I know this is all part of trial and error, and this is just another example of how the child is developing with their writing numbers. There would be times my student would be struggling with something and it would take all I had not to help her out until she asked. I learned about math skills and activities to use to see if the children had required these skills. For example, I learned about cardinality, which was a new word to me, and how an activity as simple as counting blocks can see if the child has accomplished this skill. The biggest lesson learned about being a numeracy teacher would be to pay attention to all the detail, questions, and work the child does. I noticed after a few Thursdays of meeting with my study buddy how to help her with some math skills she was having trouble with but would only include a minor mistake. This was a great feeling of actually being a teacher by observing, making lessons, and actually watching the child do the lesson created! The teachers role in supporting numeracy development I think would be to make sure to find time to work with each child individually. It seemed just talking to my colleagues there were many children who were on different levels in their numeracy development, yet were all in the same class. This had me thinking of how beneficial it would be to see where each child is and how to be able to help them all with their numeracy development. I also think it would support the teachers role in numeracy

Colson 7 development by having the children practice these math skills and have visual help around the room to help them progress in their math knowledge. The best thing to do as a teacher is to be able to have as much material for all children to be able to meet all the math skills.

From this experience I have learned that my lesson plans will not always go as planned. There were times when I thought my study buddy would really benefit from activities I had created, but she actually would just become confused. I think my biggest accomplishment from this experience would be providing the next instructional step to where her numeracy development was at. I learned to sit and look at what she was able to do from the last activity and then think what next numeracy development should we go over that I believe she would be able to figure out. I really enjoyed this experience and I feel really blessed with the study buddy I had!

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Appendices: A. Math Number Worksheet B. Written Number Symbols (1-16) C. Recognizing Number Pattern Questions D. Notes Taken During Questions asked Orally

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A. Math Number Worksheet

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B. Written Number Symbols (1-16)

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C. Recognizing Number Pattern Questions

Colson 12 D. Notes Taken During Questions Asked Orally